Earlier today in Japan at the "Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity Nationwide Fan Thanks Festival 2011 sponsored by Caloriemate," SonicTeam announced that the alpha test for Phantasy Star Online 2 will begin this summer! Entry into the test will not be open; instead, all participants will be selected by lottery. And your first chance at putting your name into the drawing will be by purchasing Phantasy Star Portable 2 Infinity, which will be released in Japan on February 24. The first printings of the game will include a special code inside the box as designated by a yellow sticker on the outside of the case. This code is required to enter yourself into the alpha test drawing. Keep in mind that only the UMD release of PSP2i will feature this code; the download version will not include the code. Furthermore, Japanese Phantasy Star Universe and previously-subscribed Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst players will have a chance at getting into the test, as codes will be distributed to them, too. Specific details on this method of code distribution will be made public at a later date.

Update (February 7): Details on the alternate methods of obtaining an alpha test lottery code for Japanese PSU and PSOBB players have been announced!

If you purchased a Hunters License for the Japanese version of Blue Burst at any point between January 1, 2010, and November 30, 2010, then you will receive a lottery code at a later date through the e-mail address you registered with your account. However, if you registered and play via the Hangame version, you will not be included.

Japanese PC/PS2 Phantasy Star Universe players will have three chances at getting a code, as they will be distributed to eligible players in three different batches. Here are the dates of distribution along with the requirements for each.

February 24: You must be a premium course player on February 20 or you must have bought 3,000 GC (or more) between January 1 and February 20.

Early April: You must be a premium course player on March 31 or you must have bought 3,000 GC (or more) between February 21 and March 31.

Early May: You must be a premium course player on April 30 or you must have bought 3,000 GC (or more) between April 1 and April 30.

As before, codes will be sent to eligible players via e-mail. Also, this offer does not extend to those who subscribe to the game through Hangame or those who play the Xbox 360 version. And finally, even if you meet more than one requirement, you will not be sent more than one lottery code. Good luck to all eligible players!

Lottery huh? :O Let's hope I get in! ^.^ (but judging by my chances on this game's gachas I won't get in even if i had JP Blue Burst, PSUJP, and PSP2i! lol I almost wanna buy PSP2i just for the chance at the lottery lol

yo i love phantasy star with more of my heart than i should and i just think that this is cruel and messed up that only people that buy the portable version get a shot at the demo for PSO2 why cant they put the PSO2 demo up for a little while and let people try it for 24 hours or something , you know just so everyone gets a taste of whats to come.Their idea just makes me want to stick to the original PSO game

Ayo, chill son... It's only the alpha test. Closed Beta test = more select people get in, Open Beta = Everyone can get in, then theres the official release. I dunno if we're getting a closed or opened beta but it would likely happen.

No one is forcing you to buy it. But it's probably the easiest way to get an alpha drawing code. You can get a code via PSU or PSOBB participation too. Check the thread linked in the news post for more information.

Personaly I wish anyone buying the UMD version got into the alpha automaticaly, or for that matter I would want all the PC/PS2 players to automaticaly get in or at least get the first crack at it, Im fortunate to have picked the 360 version from the beggining but I cant help but imagine how much that sucked for them. Well, nothing I can really do, theres probably going to be a free demo version down the road anyway, just PLEASE offer a lifetime membership for a one time fee sega! Id be happy if it was 300 bucks!

They NEED to bring back Mags in PSO2. They just can't miss this opportunity. Also, partner machinery SUCKS. That is all.
Oh, and I expect a return of "You can now scream like a little girl in seven different languages"

I agree.
With all parts.
Especially if they have the Photon Blasts from PSO.

But now onto controversial subjects not aforementioned (in this thread).

Beasts
I am OK with the beasts, but adding a whole new race into a series that did well with only 3? Not the best choice to keep old fans. However, my experience, limited as it may be, compels me to say that they were done well.

Magic
I may sound like a PSO purist, but please bear with me. From the beginning there was a TP bar and magic could be used without weapons. PSU is the only time I have ever, in any Phantasy Star game, avoided magic.

I haven't had the money to get any game from our favorite series since PSU (except PSZ), so I may have missed several good ideas.

i do to!
hmm? xbox players will not receive invites? hmm this points me to believe it will either be a pc only or pc/ps3 only release. i'm leaning more towards the pc only, since sega is pushing the ps2 players to switch to pc.

At most it should be PC and PS3 only. Why? SEGA seems to want to explore the free-to-play model further, and Microsoft simply won't allow any such MMOs in LIVE. SONY hasn't spoken about it either way, far as I know, so maybe they would allow it on PSN (I also don't own a PS3, so no idea if PSN already has games like that or not).

It would be too much work to acknowledge those players, both Japanese and English, who've poured hundreds of dollars into subscriptions all in the last ten years. I've already accepted that I'll never receive anything more for my money than the subscriptions that I'd paid for themselves.